Since March 14th, the French auction house Artcurial has inaugurated a new auction concept, Horological Timepieces, a 100% digital format dedicated to antique watches. A specialty reserved for connoisseurs and informed collectors, antique watches are increasingly reappearing on the auction scene, since the Covid-19 period, and most often in an online-only mode.

A market that has remained confidential for several years, but that some houses, such as Sotheby’s, have always been able to highlight. From the memorable sale of The Time Museum, which took place on December 2, 1999 in New York, to the recent success of The Masterworks of Time in 2019, Sotheby’s has been able to combine live and online-only sales. Bringing together more than 800 timepieces and covering 500 years of watchmaking history, The Masterworks of Time was an important milestone, demonstrating that vintage watches have great potential in both the online-only and live formats.

Horological Timepieces, rare pieces to discover at Artcurial

Following the tradition of fine antique watchmaking, Horological Timepieces offers antique watches, clocks and documentation. Among the so-called “revival” pieces, in the Renaissance taste and produced at the end of the 19th century in a Neo-Renaissance fashion, this astonishing book-shaped watch will certainly arouse the curiosity of many collectors (lot n°2). While its design is in the style of watches produced in 16th century Germany, this watch highlights the creativity of the watchmakers who made the first primitive watches – whose main manufacturing centers were in Augsburg, Munich and Nuremberg.

Few book-shaped watches are known to date, and this one, with its large bezel, is a perfect example of the early fashion for portable watches. The most impressive book watch is certainly the one produced around 1580 by the watchmaker Hans Koch, one of the leading manufacturers in southern Germany, and which can be admired today in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

At The Masterwork of Time sale, a book-shaped watch went for £13,000, so it’s not impossible that this piece will lead to a great bidding battle

The French market

In France, the market for antique watches is particularly strong as there are many enthusiasts and some must-have collections, such as those in the Louvre Museum, as well as the exceptional collections at the Château d’Ecouen. In 2019, Artcurial is asserting itself in this specialty by dispersing a set of pocket watches from the collections of the Fondation Napoléon.

which more than 270 objects, including antique enamelled watches from the late 18th and mid-19th centuries, will be auctioned.

These watches were added to the Fondation Napoléon’s collections in 1984, following the bequest of the French industrialist Martial Lapeyre, founder of the Lapeyre group. A great amateur, he had built up most of his collection between the 1960s and 1980s.

Among the top-priced watchmakers were pieces by William Ilbery, one of London’s leading luxury watchmakers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, whose watch produced for the English market fetched over €30,000 (lot 57,  december 9, 2019).

Another watchmaker who is extremely popular with collectors is Léo Juvet, especially for his watches for the Asian market. The Juvet family is one of the most renowned Swiss watchmaking families. Founded in 1842 in Buttes by Édouard Juvet, the workshop moved to Fleurier in 1845, and his son Léo developed the commercial activities in Asia, where the company set up branches in Tien-Tsin and Saigon. An enameled gold watch depicting a genre scene was sold for €65,000  (lot 66, sale December 9, 2019), a remarkable price when one considers that these watches were generally produced in pairs, and that only their value is normally lower

Edouard Bovet also distinguished himself in the trade of enamelled watches, and is considered the first Swiss watchmaker to approach the Asian market around 1818. In 1814, he first went to England, which was then the hub of the watchmaking market, before opening a branch in Canton in 1822. From then on, the entire production of the Fleurier workshop was destined for the Chinese market. Bovet pocket watches met with considerable success there and even became a bargaining chip in some parts of society. Today, Bovet remains a particularly sought-after signature among collectors. As a proof, a model in enamelled gold and set with fine pearls was sold for 54 600 €. (lot 89, 9 december 2019).

The last major sale in France was conducted by Aguttes in 2022. Entitled “Une Histoire du Temps, ancienne collection B”, this sale brought together nearly 100 pieces chosen with taste and rigor by a French enthusiast over a period of 40 years. The auction of this unique collection brought together enthusiasts from all over the world on Drouot.com and the centerpiece, a snuffbox with a singing bird made by the famous Rochat brothers, fetched nearly €330,000. (lot 60, 28 september 2022).

This emblematic object of 19th century watchmaking art and mechanical engineering was distinguished by its exceptional state of preservation and its legendary provenance: “Former King Farouk Collection”.

Sold with its original case and a second case signed “Berry Hill London New York”, this extraordinary bird probably passed through the hands of the famous brothers Henry and Sidney Hill. Antique dealers and art dealers based in New York, they would have sold it to the King of Egypt. King Farouk was a collector of excess, and during the 15 years of his reign he acquired exceptional pieces in all fields: watches, jewelry, collectible automobiles, numismatics and goldsmiths… An incredible collection that Sotheby’s had the privilege of dispersing in 1954 during the mythical sale The Palace Collections of Egypt.

It was during this sale that this sublime enamelled gold snuffbox was acquired by the French collector, who 68 years later entrusted it to auctioneer Claude Aguttes.

Rediscovering the watchmakers of the past

Thanks to digital technology, the largest international auction houses are giving watch lovers the opportunity to return to the fundamentals of watchmaking and to perfect their culture and knowledge.

Horological Timepieces helps us to understand the role that watchmakers have played throughout the ages, as in the 18th century, the Esquivillon & Deschoudens brothers in Geneva, Winstead in London or Ad Hochenadl in Venice, have left their mark on the history of watchmaking.

Like the sales of antique watches in recent years, Horological Timepieces as a new online-only concept, opens up this part of the antique watchmaking sector to amateurs and connoisseurs, highlighting clocks that were famous in their time, in the precise sense of having been privileged witnesses to the history of fine artisanal watchmaking in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Taly Besançon

A ladies’ collar watch (lot 37), with a case entirely paved with diamonds and a dial signed Taly in Besançon, reminds us of the role this Franche-Comté city has played in the history of French watchmaking. Inside the case is a well-known hallmark, that of the Société Générale Or, a major case manufacturer that set up shop in Besançon, at 21 rue Gambetta, in 1880. It was at the end of the 18th century, with the installation of a few Swiss watchmakers, that Besançon became the French capital of watchmaking. In 1880, the city already produced 90% of French watches. This monopoly lasted until the 1970s and was the pride of the region, thanks in particular to the Lip, Yema, Zenith and Dodane factories.

This watch will attract the interest of collectors wishing to keep a testimony of this rich watchmaking past.

L’incontournable « Boule de Genève »

It is inevitably part of the selection (lot 39). In green translucent enamel with gold stars and fleur-de-lis, this watch is sold with its matching chain and its period case. In the 19th century, so-called “shaped” watches were in fashion. Watchmakers had to redouble their ingenuity and imagine tiny movements, capable of adapting to the most improbable shapes of cases. It was at this time that the “Boule de Genève” appeared. This tiny feminine watch conceals a movement, composed of 3 superimposed plates, nested in a spherical pendant. Worn as a necklace, this watch is usually made of gold or gilded metal and its case covered with an elegant translucent enamel.

Great watchmakers such as Marius LeCoultre, Paul Ditisheim or Henri Capt were among the first to make these very special movements for the most beautiful manufactures. Very fashionable until the roaring twenties, the “Boule de Genève” is the feminine watch par excellence. It should be noted that the later pieces are generally equipped with a winding crown.

Meyer, Paris

A lovely watch in gold, enamel and pearl surround signed Meyer in Paris will certainly please the amateurs for the beauty and the quality of its enamel, but also for its signature (lot 27). Louis Meyer, is a watchmaker famous for his book “L’horloger Bijoutier Amateur ou les secrets de l’horlogerie dévoilés” published in 1900. This collection of precious advice for apprentice watchmakers or amateurs gives all the tips to know to clean, adjust or repair watches. Located at 63 rue Lamotte Piquet (XV arr.), Meyer was a watchmaker and a major retailer in Paris in the 19th century

Isaac Soret & Fils

Isaac Soret (1673-1760), a Geneva watchmaker, son of the master watchmaker Barthélémy Soret, has a very particular production, because he only makes one and only one type of caliber. This strategy, inherited from his father, allowed him to increase his production capacity and thus to make his business prosper. At his death, his son David took over the factory and the company continued under the name of Isaac Soret & fils. During 3 successive generations, we find exactly the same calibers of movements.  (lot n°15)

Elliocott, London

A piece signed Elliocott with quarter repetition will also certainly arouse a lot of interest (lot n°20). British watchmaker who was notably the official supplier of King George III, John Ellicott is one of the most famous watchmakers of the 18th century. His gold watches with double cases with repoussé decoration always record good results. 

This sale invites you to take a real trip back in time by offering important and decisive pieces, but also more modest watches that tell a lot about the history of watchmaking in France and in Europe.